Friday, December 5, 2008

Calhoun's Victory Number 78-Phew

This team has a long way to go. The guards had trouble on the wings covering the Bulls and let them slip too easily to the basket for easy shots. They once again let a scorer have a hot hand and couldn’t contain him. Rodney Pierce was insane and had 28 points. He had a combined 47 points in his previous three games. UConn was also horrible from the line, leaving 10 points on the floor, not to mention the 3 missed free throws by Adrien with lane violations and 3 missed one-and-one opportunities. It was ugly and the more the season goes on the more it is obvious how important Dyson is to this squad.

Thabeet is on a tear. He had a monster double-double with 21 points and 18 boards with 4 blocks mixed in. His only knock is his 7 for 12 from the line and his attempt at a dance after the massive slam. That would’ve been costly if he got a technical which he deserved. He’s really stepped up his game into a whole other stratosphere. Adrien also had a solid game with 18 points, 7 boards, and 4 blocks. He missed some early bunnies and decided to throw everything down with authority after that. He needs to play with that type of emotion all the time. No more banking it off the glass. Take it to the hole.

The Bulls did a great job of flustering the backcourt, beating the press, and getting back on defense. UConn’s guards had little impact on this game. Austrie was the only one to step up. He was 2 of 3 from deep, his third game in a row of great shooting, and he has added a little mid-ranged floater to his arsenal. Price again struggled from the field but was able to have 3 assists to only 1 turnover. He looks a bit lost without the ball in his hands and isn’t penetrating into the lanes effectively.

Jerome was out of sync. The ball wouldn’t fall for him and only got to the line once and missed. He still fought hard out there and had 6 boards, 3 steals, and 2 dimes. This was his worst game of the year. If Dyson isn’t creating off the dribble then this team’s offense stutters. Kemba also had his worst game of the year and didn’t even take a shot in his 30 minutes of play. He also had a costly traveling call that could have cost them the game.

Calhoun could’ve driven the team in a minivan to Buffalo with only 7 of his players getting into the game. Gavin was the bench and only played 2 minutes. He still shot the ball two times more than Kemba and had more points.

UConn’s first true road game looked just about as bad as it could be without losing. The fast break was left on the bus, the consistent free throw shooting was lost at Storrs, and the pressure defense was deflated. They can’t let players have career days against them. And they can’t allow teams to carve them up off of back screens and dribble penetration like they have so far this season. 23 of the Bull’s 26 made shots were two pointers. UConn needs to be able to play man-to-man defense without giving up the easy mid-range shots. It is still early, but the images of San Diego and George Mason linger in this state’s mind. And Connecticut doesn’t have many fingernails left to chew on when watching these upstart teams play lights out against the pups.

They've used the zone in the Virgin Islands. He hates using it because it doesn't hold individuals responsible. I agree though. With Thabeet anchoring the middle, the zone was effective. I would like to see more.